Saban prepared his Crimson Tide defense last season to combat Mullen's spread option attack while he was at the helm of the Florida offense for the SEC Championship game in Atlanta.

Mullen has installed a similar style offense since taking over the reigns at Mississippi State this season. While Mullen may not have the athletes he had with the Gators, Saban has been impressed with the job he has done with the offense in Starkville.

"It's a challenging offense to defend," Saban said. "I think Coach Mullen has done a great job over there installing the offense and teaching it. The players are doing a wonderful job executing it. They've scored a lot of points so we have a tremendous amount of respect for what they are doing."

Mullen guided the Gator offense to 358 yards against Alabama to claim the SEC Championship 31-20 en route to the national championship last season. Florida compiled 216 yards passing and another 142 yards on the ground in that contest.

Saban sees many similarities in the Bulldogs offense this season, especially in the running game.